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从头 (cóng tóu) — from the beginning; all over again; anew

Definition

从头 emphasizes starting over from the very beginning. It pairs naturally with 从头到尾 ('from start to finish') and is more 'from scratch' than 重新 ('again / in a new way').

adverb
from the beginningall over againanew

Examples

  • 从头。
    Zhè piān lùn wén xū yào cóng tóu xiě yí biàn.
    This paper needs to be written again from scratch.
  • 。
    Tā cóng tóu dào wěi dú wán le nà běn xiǎo shuō.
    He read that novel from beginning to end.
  • ，从头。
    Rú guǒ nǐ xiǎng xué hǎo, zuì hǎo cóng tóu kāi shǐ.
    If you want to learn well, you'd better start from the beginning.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

从cóngfrom
头tóubeginning

从 and 头 combine as from plus beginning, meaning from the start.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 從; 从 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
辵辵chuòwalk
Sound part声符shēngfú
从
从cóng從cóng
Same sound today

The traditional form 從 pairs 辵 (walk) with 从, which gives the sound; the character was originally written 从.

Open 从 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 頭; 头 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
頁頁yèhead
Sound part声符shēngfú
豆
豆dòu頭tóu
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 頭 shows 頁, meaning head, beside 豆 as a sound component; the simplified 头 is a later shorthand.

Open 头 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Time (Abstract)

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